As Mike will cover in his review, Shadow Hearts didn't really attract a huge audience upon it's release in 2001. The fact that it was released within weeks of Square's Final Fantasy X certainly didn't help matters. However, since then, more and more gamers have given the game a look, and it's now become practically a cult classic, mostly through word of mouth. The fact that people who pre-ordered the sequel got the original for free didn't hurt getting the word out, either.

Released in late September, Shadow Hearts: Covenant (simply Shadow Hearts II in Japan) was a hit with fans of the first game, and newcomers alike. Mike Bracken is part of the former group, and as you'll see in his review linked below, he feels the sequel to even be better than its predecessor.